On Sept. 9 the Iranian parliament approved a new penal code by a vote of 196-7 calling for a mandatory death sentence for apostates, or those who leave Islam. The Christian and Baha’i communities of Iran are most likely to be affected by this decision.

A longstanding effort to replace a church with a mosque in Kenya’s northern town of Garissa culminated in an attack by 50 Muslim youths this month that left the worship building in ruins.

The White House on Thursday expressed fresh regrets over last month's shooting death of an Italian intelligence officer in Iraq by U.S. troops as President Bush and his two immediate predecessors met with Italian officials and mourned the death of Pope John Paul II.